U.S. Agency for International Development, Mission Guinea(USAID/Guinea), Regional Contracts Office(USAID/Guinea/RCO), Conakry(ID), Department of State, Washington, DC 20521-2110

F -- EXPANDED NATURAL RESOURCES MANAGEMENT SOL 675-99-003 DUE 051099 POC Gary C. Juste, Agreement Officer, USAID/Senegal/RCO, Tel: 221-823-6249, Fax: 221-823-2965 E-mail: gjuste@usaid.gov WEB: http://www.info.usaid.gov/, http://www.info.usaid.gov/procurement_bus_opp/procurement/announce/cbd /. E-MAIL: http://www.info.usaid.gov/, gjuste@usaid.gov. THE The RFA WILL REQUEST COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT APPLICATIONS FROM A WIDE RANGE OF ORGANIZATIONS INCLUDING REGISTERED U.S. PVOS, COOPERATIVES, UNIVERSITIES AND FOR-PROFIT FIRMS. WHILE FOR-PROFIT FIRMS MAY SUBMIT APPLICATIONS, IT IS USAID'S POLICY NOT TO AWARD FEES/PROFITS UNDER ASSISTANCE INSTRUMENTS. COOPERATIVE AGREEMENTS WILL BE FULLY OR INCREMENTALLY FUNDED, DEPENDING ON THE AVAILABILITY OF FUNDS. USAID/GUINEA PLANS TO UNDERTAKE A SIX-YEAR ACTIVITY CALLED EXPANDED NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ACTIVITY (ENRMA) WITH AN ESTIMATED VALUE OF EIGHTEEN TO TWENTY (18-20) MILLION US DOLS. THE PURPOSE OF THIS ACTIVITY IS TO IMPROVE NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT IN TARGETED ZONES IN GUINEA THROUGH IMPROVING NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT CAPACITY, INCREASING SUSTAINABLE FARM PRODUCTION AND PRODUCTIVITY, AND DEVELOPING INCOME-GENERATING NON-FARM MICRO-AND SMALL ENTERPRISES. IT IS ENVISIONED THAT A PERFORMANCE BASED COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT WILL BE AWARDED. GIVEN THE DIVERSITY OF ACTIVITIES WHICH MAY BE CONDUCTED UNDER THEENRMA, THE INTERESTED APPLICANTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO PREPARE AND SUBMIT JOINT APPLICATIONS WHERE EACH APPLICANT WILL TAKE THE LEAD IN IMPLEMENTING THE TYPE OF ACTIVITY IN WHICH IT HAS A COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE. FOR EXAMPLE, WHILE ONE APPLICANT MAY HAVE ACCUMULATED A COMPARATIVE ADVANTAGE IN IMPLEMENTING NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT AND AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION ACTIVITIES, ANOTHER MAY HAVE EXPERIENCE IN MICRO- AND SMALL ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ACTIVITIES. THESE TWO OR MORE APPLICANTS COULD CONCEIVABLY SUBMIT A JOINT APPLICATION TO USAID. APPLICANTS MUST OFFER EVIDENCE OF THEIR ABILITY TO ADDRESS NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS AND ISSUES IN THE TARGET ZONES IN GUINEA. CARE SHOULD BE TAKEN TO ESTABLISH THE RELEVANCE OF PAST EXPERIENCE TO THE APPLICATION AND AS AN INDICATOR OF SUCCESS. THIS MAY INCLUDE (BUT IS NOT LIMITED TO: (1) PERTINENT WORK EXPERIENCE AND REPRESENTATIVE ACCOMPLISHMENTS IN DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING PROGRAMS OF TYPE REQUIRED UNDER THIS RFA; (2) EVIDENCE OF A SUCCESSFUL RECORD OF IMPLEMENTING NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT PROJECTS IN AFRICA AND IN GUINEA, IF APPLICABLE; (3) INSTITUTIONAL STRENGTH AS REPRESENTED BY BREADTH AND DEPTH OF EXPERIENCED PERSONNEL IN PROJECT RELEVANT DISCIPLINES/AREAS; (4) SUB-RECIPIENT CAPABILITIES AND EXPERTISE; (5) TRAINING; (6) PROPOSED FIELD MANAGEMENT STRUCTURE AND FINANCIAL CONTROL; (7) PROCUREMENT; (8) HOME-OFFICE BACKSTOPPING; (9) COLLABORATION WITH GOVERNMENTAL SERVICES, NATIONAL NGOS AND GRASS-ROOTS ORGANIZATIONS. USAID/GUINEA ANTICIPATES SUBSTANTIAL INVOLVEMENT BY APPROVING RECIPIENTS' IMPLEMENTATION PLANS; KEY PERSONNEL SPECIFIED IN THE APPLICATION; RECIPIENTS' MONITORING AND EVALUATION PLANS; AND CONCURRENCE ON THE SELECTION OF SUBAWARD RECIPIENTS AND/OR SUBSTANTIVE PROVISIONS OF THE SUBAWARDS. NO FURTHER INVOLVEMENT, BEYOND THAT ASSOCIATED WITH NORMAL AGREEMENT ADMINISTRATION, IS ANTICIPATED. ALL QUESTIONS RELATED TO THIS NOTICE AND REQUESTS FOR A COPY OF RFA NO. 675-99-003 MUST BE ADDRESSED, IN WRITING TO: OUSMANE FAYE, SR AGREEMENT SPECIALIST, USAID/GUINEA/EXO, C/O AMERICAN EMBASSY, B.P. 603, CONAKRY, GUINEA, OR OUSMANE FAYE, SR AGREEMENT SPECIALIST, CONAKRY (ID), DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, D.C. 20521-2110; INT. FAX NOS.: (224) 41-19-85 OR PHONE (224) 41-21-63. SPECIFY THE RFA REQUESTED, AND INCLUDE YOUR COMPLETE FIRM NAME, STREET ADDRESS, PHONE/TELEX/FAX NO./E-MAIL ADDRESS. NO TELEPHONE REQUESTS WILL BE HONORED. IT IS ANTICIPATED THAT A PRE-APPLICATION CONFERENCE WILL BE HELD IN WASHINGTON D.C. O/A MARCH 23, 1999. CONFIRMED DATES AND PLACE WILL BE PROVIDED IN THE RFA. THE ISSUANCE DATE OF THE RFA IS EXPECTED TO BE APPROXIMATELY FIFTEEN (15) DAYS FROM THE DATE OF PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE. THE CLOSING DATE WILL BE APPROXIMATELY SIXTY (60) DAYS FROM THE ACTUAL ISSUANCE DATE. The IS CBD NOTICE CAN BE VIEWED AND DOWNLOADED USING THE AGENCY GOPHER. THE RFA, ONCE ISSUED, CAN BE DOWNLOADED FROM THE AGENCY GOPHER. THE GOPHER ADDRESS IS GOPHER.INFO.USAID.GOV. SELECT USAID PROCUREMENT AND BUSINESS OPPORTUNITIES FROM THE GOPHER MENU. THE RFA TEXT CAN BE DOWNLOADEDVIA ANONYMOUS FILE TRANSFER PROTOCOL (FTP). THE FTP ADDRESS IS FTP.INFO.USAID.GOV. LOGON USING THE USER IDENTIFICATION OF "ANONYMOUS" AND THE PASSWORD IS YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS. LOOK UNDER THE FOLLOWING DIRECTORY FOR THE RFA: PUB/OP/RFA/67599003. RECEIPT OF THIS RFA THROUGH INTERNET MUST BE CONFIRMED BY WRITTEN NOTIFICATION TO THE CONTACT PERSON NOTED ABOVE. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE RECIPIENT OF THIS SOLICITATION DOCUMENT TO ENSURE THAT IT HAS BEEN RECEIVED FROM INTERNET IN ITS ENTIRETY AND USAID BEARS NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR DATA ERRORS RESULTING FROM TRANSMISSION OR CONVERSION PROCESSES. THE PUBLICATION OF THIS NOTICE OR THE ISSUANCE OF A REQUEST FOR APPLICATIONS DOES NOT OBLIGATE THE U.S. GOVERNMENT TO AWARD A COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT. Posted 03/04/99 (W-SN305029). (0063)

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